Japan stocks rally ahead of central bank decision

MichaelKitchen

Asia editor

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened to strong gains, bouncing off losses in the previous session, with the ever-weaker yen boosting exporters and with the Bank of Japan possibly to announce new measures to support the financial system later in the day. The Nikkei Stock Average
NIK, -0.13%
jumped 0.9% to 9,674.25 in early trading, while the Topix rose 1.1% to 848.98. Banks rallied ahead of the central bank decision, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
8306, -0.53%MTU, -11.11%
up 3.2%, Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
8411, -0.62%MFG, +0.62%
gaining 3.1%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.
8316, -0.43%SMFG, +0.70%
higher by 1.8%. Exporters also climbed, as the dollar rose to the mid-¥85 range, with Canon Inc.
7751, -0.23%CAJ, +0.64%
up 1.9%, and Mazda Motor Corp.
7261, +0.58%MZDAF, -4.04%
adding 3.5%. Shares of Elpida Memory Inc.
JP:6665ELPDF
rose 3.8% after a Nikkei report the company plans to start producing 4-gigabit DRAM chips for mobile devices in June. Meanwhile, Fast Retailing Co.
9983, -0.47%FRCOF, -0.71%
sank 0.3%, and 7-Eleven owner Seven & I Holdings Co.
3382, +1.09%SVNDF, +1.83%
added 2% ahead of the firms' earnings reports, due after the market close.

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